The Southern Whale Fishery Company was established by the granting of a

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

in 1846 to

Charles Enderby Charles Enderby (1797–1876) was one of three sons of Samuel Enderby Junior (1756–1829). He was the grandson of Samuel Enderby (1717–1797), who founded the Samuel Enderby & Sons company in 1775. Samuel Enderby & Sons was one of the ...

, for the purpose of operating a permanent whaling station on the

Auckland Islands The Auckland Islands (Māori: ''Motu Maha'' "Many islands" or ''Maungahuka'' "Snowy mountains") are an archipelago of New Zealand, lying south of the South Island. The main Auckland Island, occupying , is surrounded by smaller Adams Island, ...

. Charles Enderby was the grandson of

Samuel Enderby Samuel Enderby (17 January 171919 September 1797) was an English whale oil merchant, significant in the history of whaling in the United Kingdom. In the 18th century, he founded Samuel Enderby & Sons, a prominent shipping, whaling, and sealing co ...

, founder of the prominent sealing and

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...

firm,

Samuel Enderby & Sons Samuel Enderby & Sons was a whaling and sealing company based in London, England, founded circa 1775 by Samuel Enderby (1717–1797). The company was significant in the history of whaling in the United Kingdom, not least for encouraging their ...

. The Enderby family business had been in decline following losses made by several ambitious expeditions to the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...

, and especially since 1845, when Enderby's Hemp Rope Works, its rope-making factory on the

Greenwich Peninsula The Greenwich Peninsula is an area of Greenwich in South London, South East London, England. It is bounded on three sides by a loop of the River Thames, Thames, between the Isle of Dogs to the west and Silvertown to the east. To the south is the ...

in the

London Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London boroughs, London borough in southeast Greater London. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metr ...

was destroyed by fire. Looking for a way to save the family business, Charles Enderby successfully petitioned for government backing to establish a settlement on the Auckland Islands 'for the purpose of the whale fishery, as a station at which to discharge the cargoes and refit vessels'.The Southern Whale Fishery Company
/ref>

Auckland Islands settlement

Enderby was appointed

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

of the Auckland Islands. In December 1849, he led an expedition comprising three ships carrying 150 settlers and stores to the Auckland Islands and established the Enderby Settlement in Erebus Cove,

Port Ross Port Ross is a natural harbour on Auckland Island in the Auckland Islands Group, a subantarctic chain that forms part of the New Zealand Outlying Islands. Guarding the mouth of Port Ross are Rose Island, Enderby Island, Ewing Island, and th ...

, at the north-eastern end of

Auckland Island Auckland Island ( mi, Mauka Huka) is the main island of the eponymous uninhabited archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the New Zealand subantarctic area. It is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list together with the other New ...

, close to

Enderby Island Enderby Island is part of New Zealand's uninhabited Auckland Islands archipelago, south of mainland New Zealand. It is situated just off the northern tip of Auckland Island, the largest island in the archipelago. Geography and geology Enderby ...

.Historical Timeline of the Auckland Islands
Land was cleared for the colony and whaling station and the community of Hardwicke established. The settlement was based on

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

, resupply and minor repair of ships, and whaling. However, the cold, damp climate and acid soils made agriculture impossible, and the eight whaling ships attached to the station caught very few whales. Ultimately unsuccessful, the colony was abandoned in August 1852. Charles Enderby returned to London in 1853. The ill-fated Enderby Settlement finally bankrupted the Enderby family business, which was liquidated in 1854.Charles Enderby
/ref> Charles Enderby died in poverty in London on 31 August 1876.

References

{{fishery science topics, expanded=management Auckland Islands Whaling in the United Kingdom Whaling in New Zealand History of the New Zealand outlying islands Whaling firms